


Futaba's School Days

by Milligramme



Series: Don't You Want Me [3]
Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Special Menu: the aftermath, being kicked out of clubs, but mostly it's just Kaoru and Futaba having fun, having a Tanaka-kink (Tanakink for short), infiltrating prisons, just normal high school shenanigans really, post P5, reading Shido's self insert porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-08-23 05:45:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milligramme/pseuds/Milligramme
Summary: Set right after P5. Series of loosely related OS.When Ren asked him to "keep an eye" on his friend Futaba, Kaoru didn't really know what to expect. However, he certainly didn't think he'd become best friends with a genius hacker. Together, they will join clubs, read weird porn, encourage each other's creativity, and break the law (several times). Sweet high school days~Read for:- Friendship- Futaba and Kaoru becoming idiots whenever they're around each other- Some answers on what happens to Adachi, and how the Iwais dealt with his disappearance (marked by a *)Can be read separately





	1. First Day of School

**Author's Note:**

> Good news everyone who's heartbroken from Ace Defective: Futaba's School Days is here already!  
> I felt bad leaving you on such a sad note... And this chapter was ready anyway.  
> Note that I don't know how often I'll post, but probably not any slower than usual (so once every 2 weeks, for the people joining us now).
> 
> I don't really know what to think about this story in general, so I hope you'll enjoy it. I realize that I've put a lot of myself and my own experience in it (minus breaking the law and genius hacking, of course), and I hope you'll have fun reading it!
> 
> As always, thank you to my betas, Akaicchi and Rawen!
> 
> Enjoy!

Contrary to his father, Kaoru was a very approachable person. He had a pretty tame appearance, neat hair that couldn’t look messy even if he tried, and he generally gave the impression of being a nice, earnest person—harmless, even. However, much like his father, he didn’t have many friends.

It wasn’t that he was shy, or that people disliked him. It was just that whenever he met someone new, his feelings were very binary: either it clicked, or it didn’t. And since he’d been raised by a loner, he rarely bothered to stay around people he wasn’t really interested in.

As things were before he decided to attend Shujin, he had a few friends in cram school who had already set their minds to different high schools, and several online friends he’d made after Min-Soo, his best friend in elementary school, had moved back to South Korea. As for his junior school, he’d been very disappointed to see that no one really clicked during the three years he’d spent there. He didn’t have any problem with it and was still on friendly terms with his classmates, but it had been a big letdown. Hence, Kaoru’s biggest hope for this school year was to meet interesting people, like the Phantom Thieves or his dad’s old part timer/Kaoru’s newly appointed big brother.

Talking about Amamiya, the first thing he said when Kaoru told him that he was going to Shujin was:

“A friend of mine will be in first year too. Her name is Futaba Sakura. If you’re in her class, could you keep an eye on her?”

He seemed pretty serious, so on his first day of school, Kaoru found himself checking the names on the list, to see if he could find the girl somewhere. He smiled when he realized that they’d be in the same class, and wondered what kind of person she was. He didn’t know anyone in this high school, so it would be great if they could become friends. Kaoru didn’t know what Amamiya had meant when he asked him to ‘keep an eye on her’, but it would be the best case scenario.

He arrived in his classroom pretty early and sat at an available desk around the middle. There were a few groups of people talking there already, and since they all seemed to know each other, he decided to just look from a distance for now, keeping an eye on a girl who could be Futaba Sakura.

Could it be one of the girls talking in the back of the room? Or maybe the short haired one who was sitting near the door, texting someone? Or maybe the small girl with long ginger hair and glasses who had just walked in, looking obviously nervous and ill at ease in her uniform? She sat at a desk by the window, drummed on the table a few times, and took out her phone soon after.

He could have kept searching, but two boys walked toward him to talk. Neither of them seemed to click, but they were friendly and seemed nice enough. Then, the teacher came in, and everyone went back to their respective desks.

All in all, the introductions were pretty boring. Kaoru’s was concise and efficient, a few people seemed really flustered, others made it funny, and then came the name he’d been waiting for the whole time.

“Futaba Sakura.”

The ginger girl sprung from her desk.

“I’m Futaba Sakura. I like curry and computers. I’ll gladly meet your ass. I mean kick your ass! I mean… I’m glad to meet you all.”

A few people snickered, and Kaoru understood why Amamiya had asked him to keep an eye on her. She clearly wasn’t in her element here. Still, she seemed like an interesting person.

As the rest of the morning went on, he couldn’t help but keep sending her quick glances, wondering how he could start a conversation at lunch time. As for her, she spent most of her time on her phone, texting frantically. He wondered if he’d be able to talk to her, if she was always like this. Maybe he should just keep an eye on her from a distance, after all…

Once the break finally came, he stood up and walked toward her. She was still texting. He cleared his throat, wondering if offering to have lunch together right away would be weird. Neither of them seemed to know anyone in this class, so it could work, right?

She looked up, tilted her head, and blurted:

“You’re the one who kept staring at me in class.”

_So he wasn’t as stealthy as he’d thought. Oops…_

“Yeah, um… Sorry about that.”

He realized that the best approach would be to tell her that he was one of Amamiya’s friends, but before he could say anything, she asked:

“Is it because you liked my introduction? Was it the computer part or the curry part? I hope it wasn’t the ass kicking…”

“It sure was an interesting one,” he chuckled.

She looked around him.

“I don’t see your friends. Did they leave you?”

“The boys from earlier? I’d just met them. I don’t know anyone in this class, actually,” he admitted.

“Oh, so you don’t have friends! Well, that’s too bad,” she said. “I don’t know anyone here either. So, do you want to talk about curry or computers?”

Kaoru replied that he was pretty curious about the curry part, and she told him about how her adoptive father made the best curry in the world. He then explained that he was adopted as well.

It clicked.

They could have kept talking through the entire lunch break, but they were interrupted by two blonde third years.

“Oh, Futaba-chan, there you are! We thought you might be lost, so we came to find you,” the girl said.

“Oh, hi Ann! I was talking with my new friend,” Sakura replied.

“So you’ve made friends already? To think we were all worried about you…” the boy chuckled.

Kaoru’s new friend smiled proudly and made the introductions.

“Kaoru, this is Ann and Ryuji. They’re my friends from last year. Ann, Ryuji, this is Kaoru. He’s adopted.”

Everyone in the room choked.

“Futaba-chan, you can’t say it like that…” Ann whispered.

“Why? It’s true,” she replied.

Kaoru stifled a laugh. He really didn’t mind, and it seemed that he would have to get used to it.

“Sorry about that,” the blonde girl then said. “I’m Ann Takamaki. Nice to meet you.”

“And I’m Ryuji Sakamoto,” her friend declared.

“I’ve already made the introductions,” Sakura pouted.

“I’m Kaoru Iwai. Nice to meet you,” he said with a polite bow.

“Wait, you don’t mean ‘Iwai’ like the Iwai from the airsoft shop, right?” Sakamoto exclaimed.

“That’s my dad,” Kaoru replied, surprised (although not as much as Sakura’s friend, apparently).

“Wow, Ren said something about his kid coming to our school, but I never expected you to look like this…”

“Ryuji, don’t be rude,” Takamaki hissed.

Then, she smiled brightly and said they should go eat now.

“I’m sure Mishima is waiting for us,” she announced.

“Do I know him?” Sakura asked.

“Probably not. You’ll see.”

“Kaoru, you’re coming too,” his new friend said.

He was grateful for the invitation. He didn’t know if he was supposed to follow them or not.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude,” he still replied.

“Are you kidding? I didn’t think Futaba could make a single friend in this school, and here you are. You’re coming, we’re not giving you a choice here,” Sakamoto grinned.

It really seemed that Sakura didn’t need anyone to look after her, after all. However, Kaoru was glad to be invited. He didn’t know if her friends would click too, but they seemed like an interesting bunch!

 

* * *

 

**Ex-Phantom Thieves Group Chat**

Futaba: Ann has walked me to the door safely. Thank you Mom!

Ann: Hey, you’re the one who was worried!

Yusuke: A mother, walking her child to school for the first time… How moving

Ann: Not you too, Yusuke!

Makoto: So, how is everything going?

Ryuji: Like the beginning of a new school year…

Futaba: There are people talking around me

Futaba: Should I talk to them?

Futaba: Should they come and talk to me?

Futaba: How do I communicate?

Futaba: What do you talk about on a first day of high school?

Haru: They will probably come and talk to you if they see you’re on your own. Don’t worry

Futaba: What if I don’t know what to say? There are so many strangers…

Futaba: I want to go home

Ren: It will be fine. Maybe there are other people who don’t know anyone? You can talk to them

Futaba: Also I sat near the window because that’s a protagonist desk, but what if a real protagonist shows up?

Futaba: Will we have to fight for it?

Futaba: Will I become the protagonist if I win?

Futaba: Maybe I was a protagonist all along! Does the desk make the protagonist?

Ann: I’m losing you here…

Ren: I’d never had a desk near a window before coming to Shujin. Maybe the desk really makes the protagonist?

Futaba: Good! I can’t wait to see in what genre I am!

Makoto: Didn’t you have your dose of adventure last year?

Futaba: Maybe it will be a spinoff! Like “Futaba’s School Days”

Ren: That would make a great shojo manga

Futaba: What? No! I don’t want to be the heroin of a stupid shojo! Give me monster fights!

[…]

Futaba: Okay, I’m done

Makoto: Done?

Futaba: I’ve hacked the phones of all my classmates. I’m ready to make them ring to cover my escape, if I have to

Ann: Futaba-chan no!

Ryuji: Do you have pictures of cute girls?

Ann: Ryuji!

Futaba: I haven’t checked yet

Makoto: Futaba, no matter what happens, don’t do this

Futaba: Ugh, fine… I’ll use the fire alarm

Futaba: I’ll still keep it as a backup plan though

[…]

Futaba: The teacher is here. Should I stop writing?

Futaba: Guys?

[…]

Futaba: Oh no he wants us to introduce ourselves, what do I do?!

Haru: Tell them about yourself

Makoto: State your name and say you’re pleased to meet them all

Ryuji: Also, tell them that we’ll kick their ass if they’re mean to you!

Yusuke: Express your individuality

Ann: Listen to what your classmates say and try to copy them

Futaba: I can’t, I haven’t listened!

Ann: And no matter what, don’t follow Ryuji’s advice!

Futaba: It’s too late to run away, right?

Ren: Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be long

Futaba: That’s it, I’m putting the escape plan in action

Ann: Futaba-chan don’t do it!

Haru: You have to believe in yourself!

Futaba: He’ll call my name soon. Can I jump through the window?

Futaba: That’s what the window is for right?

Futaba: I knew I should have brought my mask…

Ren: You can do it Futaba

Futaba: I did it. I think it went well. I’ll still jump through the window though, just in case

Ann: Good job Futaba-chan! No need to run away now!

Haru: I’m sure you did great

Futaba: What should I do now?

Makoto: How about you listen to the actual class?

Futaba: Oh, right

[…]

Futaba: There’s a boy who keeps staring at me. Did he notice that I was on my phone? What should I do?

Haru: Maybe you’ve caught his eyes?

Ren: The beginning of “Futaba’s School Days”, greatest romance of all times

Futaba: No way!

Ann: Tell us if he creeps you out okay? People like that must be dealt with right away

Yusuke: Maybe he’s found his muse in you?

Ann: That’s exactly what I’m talking about!

Makoto: Maybe he’s annoyed because you’re on your phone instead of listening? It annoys me a lot

Ryuji: Why are you here then?

Makoto: My class starts later

Ann: So? How’s university?

Makoto: It’s fine so far. But you should all be listening instead of chatting

Ryuji: You’re no fun…

Makoto: It’s called showing respect

[…]

Ann: Finally free! Should we all meet at the cafeteria for lunch?

Ryuji: Sure! Mishima’s tagging along

Ann: Fine by me. Futaba-chan, do you know how to go there?

Futaba: Yes, I’ll meet you there

Ann: See you!

 

[Private message from Ren]

Ren: Futaba, you should try talking to people in your class, too

Futaba: But they’re all in small groups! How do I infiltrate them?

Ren: There has to be a few people on their own, right?

Futaba: Wait, the boy from before is here. What do I do?

Ren: Talk to him! Do it!

Futaba: Okay, let Futaba’s School Days begin!


	2. Silence*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late, I have a new chapter, yay!
> 
> This one is pretty short and shows how the Iwais (and especially Kaoru) have dealt with Adachi's disappearance.  
> It's probably not suited to people who haven't read Ace Defective...
> 
> For those who have, enjoy!

It was a golden rule for the Iwais that they didn’t talk about Adachi. Ever since the man had disappeared from their lives without warning, Kaoru’s dad had stopped talking about him entirely, ignoring his son’s attempts to bring him up. Then, Adachi came back on TV as a murderer almost a year later, and he disappeared from their conversations entirely, as if he’d never existed.

There were many things that Kaoru and his father never talked about, such as his parents or his dad’s past, and Adachi had become one of these forbidden topics. It was how he understood it, at least.

Most of the time, he didn’t mind it. After all, he was used to it. However, there was something about the case of the “magician’s disappearance” that had always bothered him. Maybe it was because, contrary to the two other topics they avoided, it was a time of his life that he could actually remember. Or maybe it was because, even though they both acted like the man had never existed, Adachi popped up on TV from time to time, bringing back old memories. It happened less and less, but at least once a year, there was news about his trial, and it wasn’t something Kaoru and his dad could avoid so easily.

_And of course, it was without mentioning the times when Kaoru did some research himself…_

Most of the time, there was nothing new and he went back to his life. Sometimes, there was some development to the case, and it haunted him for days.

What could have happened? Had Adachi always been like this? If not, what could have made him change?

Kaoru didn’t have any answer for that, no one he could talk to about this, and he hated it. He’d wanted to bring it up to Min-Soo at some point, but he knew that his friend wouldn’t be of any help and feel frustrated about it. Plus, if he started talking about everything he had on his mind, he would never be able to stop.

He’d really hoped that things would change after his father’s past was revealed, since they now talked about it from time to time. It still wasn’t much, but it was a great improvement, and Kaoru was grateful for it. He had never realized until then how heavy this secret had felt on his shoulders, and it was probably the same for his dad.

_Actually, it must have been even worse for him, since he was aware that there was a secret to begin with. Kaoru just knew that something was wrong, and he had assumed that the problem was him._

Another thing they had started talking about more, now that Kaoru had finally unlocked his father’s tragic backstory—when did he start talking like Futaba?—was the exact nature of his relationship with Tsuda. The man who had threatened him said something in the car along the lines of “also, no one knows about it, but once I saw Mune… with a man!” like it was a revelation.

“Yeah, I know,” Kaoru had replied.

He didn’t know at which point he had guessed that Adachi wasn’t just his dad’s friend, but it had been clear in his mind for a long time now, even before the cop left. However, this too belonged to the big collection of “things the Iwais never talked about,” so he had never mentioned it.

“What?!” his kidnapper had exclaimed with a shocked expression.

“What?” Kaoru had mirrored, surprised by his reaction.

Nothing more was said on the matter, and they had kept silent until his dad and Ren came to save him. It was very embarrassing.

_He could still feel the awkwardness, even months later…_

Anyway, after that, Kaoru had sincerely hoped that Adachi would be brought up in the conversation, sooner or later. However, much to his disappointment, he wasn’t. Kaoru tried to mention him once, and only earned one of his father’s infamous death glares. He hadn’t insisted, and now he was back to the start, with a heavy secret that neither of them could talk about.

Sometimes, Kaoru wondered if his dad realized how he felt, or if he thought that he’d forgotten about the guy.

In any case, Kaoru clearly wasn’t the one who’d suffered the most from Adachi’s sudden disappearance, so he kept silent about it, like he had for all these years, trying to bury his many questions, as always.

Maybe one day, another random person would show up and threaten him until his father was forced to talk… Kaoru hoped that things would get better before it happened, though, because it had been an awful experience for him.

_He didn’t think he could stand the awkwardness again…_


	3. Dirty Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My posting rhythm is even more unpredictable than I thought...
> 
> Anyway, here's a new chapter! Today, Kaoru finds out about Futaba's secret hobby (or one of them, at least)
> 
> Enjoy!

There were two things Kaoru learned soon after meeting Futaba: she was a great hacker, and she didn’t hesitate to use her skills for completely random things. However, he had naively thought that she wouldn’t use them against him and in that, he was cruelly mistaken.

He could have never known about it and lived in sweet ignorance, like Futaba’s other friends, but it seemed that in his case, her habit of getting overly excited and speaking her mind got the better of her. Hence, one day after school, as he was doing his homework, he got a message from his friend saying:

“Where’s the rest? I want to know who killed the woman with a red umbrella!”

He expected a meme or a random thought, which were usual coming from her, but this…

All blood left his face, and reality slipped from his grasp as he wondered with horror if it was some kind of nightmare.

“Futaba, did you go through my files?” he asked.

This was bad. The story of the woman with a red umbrella was just something he’d started writing for fun! Even though it was his favorite so far, it was still something he’d never talked about to anyone! None of his friends knew that he wrote mystery short stories as a hobby! Even his dad had no idea! It was just self-indulgent crap he’d written to pass time! No one was ever supposed to read these stories beside him! He’d been planning to bring this secret to his grave!

“It’s so good Kaoru, I have to know what happens next!” Futaba replied.

“I haven’t written that part yet,” Kaoru admitted, still absolutely mortified.

“Do it! Do it now!”

He sighed.

“Futaba, you can’t hack people’s computers to read their files.”

“I know, but I was curious to see what kind of porn you had!” she replied, and added in a separate text: “(your tastes are surprisingly bland btw)”

This time, Kaoru really panicked. He felt his cheeks burn as he typed with shaking hands:

“Why would you do this Futaba?! Please don’t do it again!”

He paused, took some time to take in what happened, tried to evaluate how bad the situation really was, and added:

“And what do you mean ‘surprisingly’?”

“I always check people’s porn! It’s funny to see what they’re into. You have no idea the sort of stuff I’ve found on Mishima’s computer!”

“I don’t want to know, Futaba. This is wrong, and bad, and a clear violation of people’s privacy.”

“Fine, fine…” she replied, and Kaoru could picture her pout perfectly. She always made this face whenever he told her that she shouldn’t be doing something…

“Anyway, don’t change the subject! I want to read the rest of your story, so go write it! Chop chop!” she added.

“I have homework to do. And you’re not supposed to read it!”

“Why did you write it then?”

Kaoru took a second to think about it. Of course, he had thought about trying to publish his stories someday, or at least post them on a website. However, it was only going to happen in his wildest fantasies. He knew there was no way he’d do it for real.

“It was just for me,” he explained.

“That’s stupid. They’re good, you should do something with them!”

“Futaba, they’re clearly awful and amateurish. And self-indulgent.”

“No they’re not! They’re awesome and I want to read more!”

“That’s not the point! You shouldn’t read them!”

“You should see the sort of stuff I’ve found on the computers of politicians. Shido’s was full of self-insert porn, it was awful!”

There was a pause while Kaoru tried to process the sentence, and while he was typing a reply, Futaba added:

“Wanna see it? :D”

“Are you talking about nearly Prime Minister Masayoshi Shido?” he sent.

“Yeah, who else would I be talking about? Are there other Shidos in politics?”

Kaoru stared at the screen, wondered if this was some kind of fever dream, confirmed that it wasn’t, and finally replied:

“I’m not sure I want to see that”

“But I’ve been dying to share it with someone!”

He paused again for a second. It was very tempting… And he loved sharing stuff with his friend, even though he sometimes didn’t get it.

“Remember what I said about violating people’s privacy?” he still replied.

“You’re no fun…”

“I guess it can’t be helped, if they were to randomly appear in my files…”

Kaoru knew it was a terrible idea. He really shouldn’t open the door to this kind of behavior. But at the same time, he was quite curious…

“Roger that!”

He sighed. At least that would make her forget about his own stories, hopefully. The sooner they both forgot it happened, the better.

He went back to his work, but it was no use. His eyes went back to the phone screen all the time, and he picked it up angrily to type:

“Did you read all of them?”

“What? Your stories? Yes”

_Oh, great, so she’d even read the bad ones._

But still…

“Which one is your favorite?”

He shouldn’t go there. He really shouldn’t. However, he’d never had readers before…

“Depends how the last one ends. When will you finish it?”

“Let me take care of my homework first. I have a few ideas I wanted to try. No peeking until I’m done, okay?”

“Fine, but I want updates!”

“Sure”

If it meant having some privacy in the meantime, it was good enough. After all, another thing he’d learned quickly about Futaba was that there was no stopping her once her mind was set on something. A compromise was the best he could get from her.

All in all, being her friend was hard and meant a lot of calm explanations about common sense and things not being okay. However, Kaoru felt like getting to know her was worth every single lecture.

_Also, he wondered what Shido’s stories were like…_


	4. The Melancholy of Futaba Sakura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I'm late!  
> One of my beta didn't have much time lately, and so did I this week, so I completely forgot...  
> Anyway, better late than never.
> 
> Today, Futaba talks about making friends and clubs.
> 
> Enjoy!

Much to the protagonist’s disappointment, “Futaba’s School Days” didn’t look like it was going to be about monster fights or anything cool of the sort. Unless her adventure hadn’t started yet?

She didn’t know, but she was still having lots of fun at school, and it was all that mattered. The learning part itself was pretty boring, but none of her teachers seemed to care that she was doing nothing as long as she answered the questions correctly. As for the parts in-between, they were the best! Futaba didn’t know what it was about Kaoru that she liked so much, but she really enjoyed spending time with him, and she sometimes felt like he was her new key item.

Maybe it was because they had a lot in common, living with single adoptive fathers and all? Maybe it was because, even though they didn’t always have the same references and he sometimes didn’t get her, he truly made an effort to understand? Maybe it was because he made sure that none of their classmates were mean to her?* Unless it was the way he never got mad at her or lost his temper, even when she did something really wrong?

_He had this way of telling her calmly that something wasn’t okay without making her feel bad. Of course, it didn’t always stop her, but at least it made her want to listen._

She used to think that she wouldn’t be able to make a single friend beside the other ex-Phantom Thieves (and Mishima the Main Character), but she was wrong. She had only made _one_ friend of course, but it was more about quality than quantity after all. Plus, it was one more than all of the others put together!

“You should try to see other people,” she told them at some point. “Making new friends is easier than you think.”

Kaoru snickered silently beside her.

“That’s easy for you to say, you haven’t been branded a delinquent…” Ryuji muttered.

“You should talk to people. Look at me: I did it and it worked.”

“I think you mostly got lucky,” Ann remarked.

“Plus, you have a big personality, so people notice you…” Mishima added with a dejected look.

“She said she’d gladly kick our ass when she introduced herself. What’s not to love?” Kaoru declared with a smile.

“You did what? You said it went well!” Ann exclaimed.

“No one threw anything at me. I didn’t explode. Godzilla didn’t attack Tokyo—although I’m a bit sad about that one. So yeah, it went well,” Futaba shrugged.

“I guess ‘Futaba’s School Days’ won’t be about saving the city from giant monsters either…” her classmate said thoughtfully.

“I’ll have to do with slice of life, I guess…”

“No, it can’t end like this, Futaba. You have to make your own adventure!” he said with a deadly serious face, a playful glint dancing in his eyes.

“Should we start a club then? Will I warp reality if I get too bored?”

“I don’t know, but maybe we could join a club, now that you mention it…”

“Right? It would be great! What kind of club can we join?” Futaba asked excitedly, loving the idea already.

“Good question… _Senpai_ , do you know when clubs start looking for new members?” Kaoru inquired, turning to the others.

“I think it starts next week,” Mishima replied. “That’s how it was the previous years, at least.”

“Good! What kind of clubs do you have?”

“There are a lot, you know. Do you want a sports club or—“

“No sports!” Futaba exclaimed.

“Seconded,” her classmate nodded.

“I don’t know why you even asked,” Ryuji snickered.

“I know there’s a robot-building club,” Mishima said. “I wanted to see if I could join this year.”

“That sounds great! I’ll make one with eyes that shoot lasers!” Futaba grinned.

“I’m not sure they’ll like it…”

“What’s the point then?”

“There’s a cooking club I wanted to check out!” Ann intervened.

“Maybe Futaba could learn to eat less curry,” Ryuji added.

“No way! I’ll only cook curry!” she exclaimed.

“I could experiment on tofu,” Kaoru said thoughtfully.

“You guys need to stop being obsessed with one kind of food, it’s not good for you,” Ann declared.

“Hey, I eat yakisoba too!” Futaba protested.

“You say that, Ann, but you would only eat sweets if you could,” Ryuji added.

“I know it’s bad for me, but they taste so good…”

They kept discussing potential clubs until Kaoru checked the time and announced that he had to make like an emu and run to cram school.

“See you tomorrow!” he said as he left for the station.

“He’s such an honor student…” Ann declared, amazed.

“I can’t believe he’d want more school after school…” Ryuji muttered.

“He says it’s fine because he has friends there,” Futaba explained thoughtfully.

She wondered if that really made it worth the trouble, but at the same time, she mostly went to school because her friends were there, so it made sense.

“I had to go to cram school until I joined a club,” Mishima remembered with a sad look. “Of course, it had to be Kamoshida’s…”

“Don’t worry dude, this year will be fine! You can build your robots or something!” Ryuji replied as he casually threw a comforting arm over his shoulders.

“I hope so… But I guess if something goes wrong, I can count on the Phantom Thieves to help!” he replied with a grin.

They all exchanged uncomfortable looks.

“Joking,” he added with a tentative laugh before adding more seriously: “I know it was you guys, though.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t scream it for everyone to hear,” Ryuji hissed.

“Says the guy who used to yell that we were Phantom Thieves in the middle of restaurants…” Ann said gravely while Futaba nodded.

Mishima left soon after and suddenly, something hit the hacker.

“Guys, Kaoru doesn’t know!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s something we wanted to talk about…” the blonde girl said with an embarrassed look.

Futaba could tell that she was trying to make her understand something, but she failed to see what. However, the conclusion seemed obvious to her.

“We should tell him,” she said.

“What? No way! What about our secret identity!” Ryuji roared.

“Well, it won’t be a secret anymore if you keep yelling,” Futaba retorted.

“He has a point, though,” Ann said.

“But he’s our friend! And it’s going to slip sooner or later, with Ryuji around,” the hacking genius countered.

“What did you say?” he snarled.

“That you can’t keep a secret, and I can’t believe no one knows beside Mishima.”

“Guys, calm down,” Ann intervened.

Futaba was perfectly calm, so it was unnecessary. However, Ryuji looked like he needed a lot of calming down.

“Maybe we should ask the others before we make that decision,” Ann added. “It’s not something we can decide on our own.”

That sounded reasonable.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Futaba nodded as she grabbed her phone to reach the group chat.

“I didn’t mean now,” Ann remarked.

“Now or later, it’s all the same,” she replied while typing her message. “Okay, done! Let’s see what the others say!”

She was sure that Ren would be on her side, and Inari didn’t matter, so it only left Makoto and Haru. It should be fine, she decided.

_Now that she thought about it, she’d never mentioned the Phantom Thieves around Kaoru. She wondered how he would react once they told him…_

* * *

 

*They were even on friendly terms. It was a first.


	5. Tanaka’s Amazing *********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today, Futaba reveals her darkest secret. Spoiler alert: it involves Tanaka.
> 
> I don't know how I came up with this, it's just... a cluster of things I guess? Ahem, anyway. Enjoy!

Kaoru knew from the moment he gave Futaba permission to put files on his computer that he was going to regret it, sooner or later. Sure, Shido’s awful stories had been a good laugh, and some parts were so iconic that they quoted them all the time, much to their other friends’ confusion.

_The most embarrassing time was when he’d used a quote that was now part of his daily language with his cram school friends and had to change the subject to avoid telling them where it came from._

However, he should have known that Futaba wouldn’t stop there, and she soon started sharing random things with him, most of them explicit, by putting them in his files.

_He understood now why she found his tastes bland…_

Of course, Kaoru didn’t want to see any of this. And his father would kill him if he knew the sort of content that randomly appeared on his computer (well, “look very disappointed in him” was more likely but honestly, it was way worse). He was pretty sure that “My friend put it here without my consent” wouldn’t work as an excuse… Plus, if he didn’t want to see it, he could just delete the files without looking. Futaba could be very insistent, but she was still his friend, so she would surely stop if he took time to calmly explain why she couldn’t keep doing this.

_However, Futaba being Futaba, she might find a loophole and keep doing it in a different way…_

For now, the only thing he’d managed to get from her was that she wouldn’t tell him on whose computer she found those files. He still guessed most of the time, though. It was a really fun game…

_…except that it shouldn’t be one!_

In the few weeks that followed Futaba’s newest hobby, Kaoru thought he’d seen everything. Furry, vore, tentacles, mechanophilia… It seemed that his friend was determined to “broaden his horizons” (not that it worked, though). It kept getting weirder and weirder until one day, he found a huge folder on his computer innocently named “Tanaka”.

Puzzled, Kaoru opened it, wondering why she’d named it after someone he didn’t think he knew.

He understood as soon as he saw the content.

It was full of drawings, montages, and even stories of President Tanaka from Tanaka’s Amazing Commodities. Some were cute, some were funny, most were very graphic, and all were equally disturbing because seriously, why _Tanaka_ of all people?

_This one was Futaba’s, he was sure of it!_

“Explain,” he texted her as he kept scrolling through the files, wondering when it became his life and why he didn’t have more regrets.

“This is my darkest secret. My guilty pleasure. It started as a joke and now I’m serious and I don’t know what happened!” she replied.

Kaoru guessed that it was some sort of apology for spying on him and reading his stories without his consent, but he couldn’t be sure. There was one thing he was pretty sure of, though…

“Was the other stuff some kind of preparation?”

“Yes”

_Of course it was…_

“Why?” he asked.

Futaba sighed as she saw the question. What could she reply to that? She had never told anyone about this before. She had considered sharing it with Kana-chan at some point, but she eventually changed her mind. Even Ren had no idea, and he was basically her big brother now!

Was she calling for help? Was it an apology? Was she trying to test their friendship and see if he’d run away? Did she want him to share her suffering?

“I don’t know,” she wrote, realizing that it was probably a bit of everything.

_In a way, it was like a special item he’d unlocked from her. The proof that their friendship had reached a new level._

“The art styles are very different, so I take it it’s not just you. How many people are involved?”

Oh, so Kaoru was curious now. It had to be a good sign, right?

“We’re a small community, but we’re very active.”

There was a pause.

“How did it start?”

“Same as me. We all share the same story. It started as a joke, then we became serious, and look at us now…”

Another pause.

“Did you make some?”

“Of course! Some of the montages are mine. I mostly make videos. And I’ve tried writing too, but it’s not good.”

“I see…”

Was this the moment he was going to leave after telling her she was too weird for him? She’d been expecting it from the moment they had started talking, but it still pained her…

“I hope you’re not trying to involve me in your weird kinks, because it’s not going to work.”

“Even if I ask you to write a Tanaka mystery story?”

“No”

“:(”

“It doesn’t feel that weird after the other stuff you’ve sent me”

“Thanks! I’ve tried!”

“Congrats. I’m still judging you though”

“That’s fair”

“Is it the entire content your community has produced, or is it some kind of starter pack?”

“Starter pack. I’ll show you the rest when you’re ready!”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be”

Futaba pouted. She already had the next batch ready!

“But Kaoru, you’re my friend! Friends suffer together! You said so yourself!”

“I didn’t mean it like this! … But I’m here if you need support,” he replied.

She grinned. It meant that he was ready to accept her and see her in all her weird glory now!

“Thanks, I’ll need it!”

Futaba wondered if he’d become one of them someday. Then, she could make him write all the stories about Tanaka that she couldn’t create herself!

Having a best friend was really nice, she decided that day.


	6. Reach Out To The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> Today, Kaoru meets Sojiro and learns about his new friends' past as Phantom Thieves!  
> (see, sendgays? told you it would be soon!)
> 
> Enjoy!

Kaoru didn’t know what to think when Futaba asked him to come to her dad’s café after school that day. She said something about an important reunion with Ren and his friends, but it only made it harder to understand why he had to be a part of it. After all, they didn’t know each other that well, so there was no reason for him to be there. However, his friend had insisted that he had to come, and he didn’t want to disappoint her. It didn’t seem to bother the others either, so it had to be fine, right?

Still, Kaoru was a bit nervous about meeting Futaba’s legal guardian. He had learned everything he could on coffee and curry just to make sure he had something to talk about, but if the man decided that he didn’t like him, there wasn’t much he could do…

According to Ann and Ryuji, he was really nice despite his rough exterior. It sounded a bit like his dad, which was comforting. Kaoru didn’t always know how to deal with him, but at least he was used to it.

_Maybe he’d finally understand how his friends felt whenever they met his father for the first time. And the second… Even Min-Soo never seemed to get used to his dad, although he’d seen him dozens of times._

Since everyone had things to do before the meeting except for Kaoru, Futaba told him to come early with her, which meant that he’d have to meet Sakura-san without them. He didn’t know why it scared him so much when his other friends’ parents always loved him—sometimes so much that it made said friends jealous—but he had a bad feeling about it.

“Are you nervous?” Futaba asked as they walked out of the Yongen-Jaya station.

“I’ll be fine,” he brushed off.

She seemed to think for a second, and instead of turning left to reach Leblanc like he expected, she kept walking forward and took the next turn.

“Futaba? Where are we going?”

“Just wait outside for a sec, I’ll be right back,” she said before entering her house.

Perplexed, Kaoru stood there, wondering what his friend had in mind. Then, she came back with a huge doll mask.

“We can go now,” she announced as she led him toward the café.

He didn’t dare asking her what it was for. He was pretty sure that he would find out soon enough. As expected, she stopped him when they reached their destination and put the mask on his head without warning.

“There. Now you won’t be nervous,” she declared.

Kaoru begged to differ.

“I used to wear it around strangers when I was a recovering shut in. It helped me a lot, so I hope it will help you too.”

He smiled. It would probably make for a terrible first impression, but there was no way he could say that when Futaba was trying so hard to help him relax. It was still on when he walked inside the café after his friend.

“Sojiro, it’s me! I’ve brought Kaoru today!”

The man’s face fell when he saw Kaoru with the mask on, so he quickly took it off.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he bowed politely, which was a lot harder with the huge item in his arms.

The other nodded without a word, a suspicious and hostile glint in his eyes.

“Where did you get that mask?” he finally asked.

“I fetched it for him. He said he was nervous to meet you, so I thought it would help,” Futaba explained casually.

“So you brought him to your room?”

 _So that’s what it was about,_ Kaoru realized. It had never crossed his mind, since he’d never had close female friends before, but now, he felt like an idiot for not having thought about it.

“No, I figured it would be faster to just go get it by myself,” his friend replied, looking perfectly unaware of what was going on in her father’s mind.

“I see…” Sakura-san said.

He still didn’t look any friendlier, and Kaoru wondered if they would ever get along.

_What if he said he didn’t want him near Futaba? It wouldn’t be the first time, although his dad was usually the one to blame for that. But she wouldn’t listen anyway, right?_

He said that his daughter always praised his curry, hoping to lighten the mood, but the only reply he got was:

“You’re not having any of it.”

This was going to be a disaster.

_Maybe he should put the mask back on, actually…_

“Come on Sojiro, be nicer! You can’t scare away my friend,” Futaba intervened.

Kaoru had never felt happier to have her by his side. Sakura-san sighed, but he seemed to make an effort after that, and the conversation was a lot easier from that point on. Kaoru could still feel his inquisitive looks from time to time though, and he wondered how long it would take for the man to finally accept him.

Someone walked in after a while. He looked pretty refined, and given his high-school uniform, Kaoru supposed that he was one of Futaba’s other friends.

“I see that I am early. I could have worked on my piece for a bit longer…” he declared with a thoughtful posture that made him look like a real life version of a JoJo character—minus the muscles.

Only then did he seem to notice their presence, and he greeted them in a way that seemed overly formal, even to Kaoru. Futaba groaned and quickly introduced him:

“Kaoru, this is Inari. He messed up my Phoenix Ranger Featherman R figurines once. You should scorn him.”

It was interesting how the newcomer looked a lot less distinguished when he was bickering with his friend…

The others arrived soon after (including Makoto, “the leather clad dominatrix with a thing for spikes”, and Haru, “she looks cute but she can end you any time”), and the place suddenly became a lot livelier. Much to his pleasure, Kaoru found out that he clicked with the new people.

Once the introductions were over and everyone had settled down with a drink, Futaba took out a tablet, and she put it on the table as Ren appeared on the screen along with a black and white cat. He hadn’t changed much since the last time Kaoru had seen him.

As soon as they noticed the guy, everyone cheered and started talking at the same time, reminding Kaoru that he was an outsider here. However, once his friends calmed down a bit, Ren turned to him and said with a smile:

“So, Kaoru, I see you’ve taken my request to look after Futaba at heart.”

His friend turned to him with a surprised look, then to the tablet, and then back to him.

“What are you talking about? Was this all set up?” she asked.

“I thought you two might get along,” Ren shrugged. “I’d never have thought you’d become so close, though…”

“Actually, I’ve been wondering… Were you worried about her, or about me?” Kaoru inquired.

It had been bothering him for a while.

“A bit of both, I guess…”

“I feel played. You two played me,” Futaba pouted.

“Don’t be like that. I didn’t force him to do anything. I just gave a little push,” Ren said with an amused look.

“I wanted to tell you, but the opportunity never came up. And I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t like you anyway,” Kaoru intervened. “You know you’re the paddle to my rowboat,” he then added with a smile, quoting one of his favorite parts from Shido’s awful stories.

“And you’re the third hand that drives the car of my heart,” Futaba replied blankly.

“And you say you can’t write…” Kaoru mused.

“Anyway, we’re all gathered here for a reason, right?” Ren finally said.

“True!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“I don’t know why we have to make it so official, though…” Makoto wondered.

“It’s nice to be together again. I think it’s enough of a reason,” Haru smiled.

The cat meowed.

“That’s right, Mona-chan,” she giggled.

“You can tell him now, Futaba-chan,” Ann said.

Kaoru was really starting to wonder what this was all about…

“Do you remember the Phantom Thieves?” his classmate asked.

“Of course, they were all everyone was talking about last year,” he replied.

_He was starting to see where this was going…_

“That was us,” Futaba announced.

_…but it was still a lot to take in._

“You mean all of you?” he asked.

“Yup!”

The cat meowed again, and Ren added:

“Including the cat. His name is Morgana, by the way.”

Kaoru blinked a few times. He had suspected Ren at some point, of course, but to think that everyone at this table was actually involved…

_And the cat too, apparently…?_

It had to be some kind of joke, but everyone seemed awfully serious, and Kaoru knew for a fact that Ryuji was a terrible liar. Ann was improving, but she was still pretty easy to read.

_Unless they’d hidden it really well until now? But then, why would they involve the cat? It clearly made the whole thing harder to believe… Or maybe the cat was the joke? Ren was harder to read than the others, after all… But clearly, it made sense that Ren was a Phantom Thief, and he needed accomplices…_

“Guys, I think we broke him…” Futaba remarked with a concerned look.

She didn’t know what she expected when she told him the truth, but certainly not this.

“It makes sense,” he said after a while.

“I guess it does,” Inari agreed.

“Except for Morgana, you’ll have to explain that,” Kaoru added. “Also, why are you telling me?”

_Classic Kaoru. Always asking questions._

“There was tons of stuff we couldn’t talk about when you were around. It makes things easier,” Ryuji shrugged.

“Plus, you would have probably found out sooner or later, with Ryuji’s big mouth,” Ann added.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me.”

While the two blondes bickered, Futaba turned to her friend and started explaining cognitive psience and why they could understand what Morgana was saying.

_It was a shame that Kaoru would never understand him, now that she thought about it…_

Anyway, now that he knew about the Phantom Thieves, there were tons of things she’d been dying to tell him, especially about the Metaverse and how it worked.

_The part about Tanaka’s Shadow and all the possibilities it would open for Tanaka/Tanaka would have to wait, though. After all, the rest of her friends didn’t know about her secret life as an active member of Tanaka’s Amazing Community…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week with "Adachi’s Back in Town" (spoiler alert: he's only back figuratively)


	7. Adachi’s Back in Town*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's Adachi's figurative return in Kaoru's life! And his introduction in Futaba's life, I guess...
> 
> Enjoy!

Kaoru was acting weird. Futaba didn’t know what happened to him, but he’d been very grim for the past few days. He barely talked, was often lost in thoughts, and worst of all, he avoided the subject whenever she asked him what was wrong.

_Apparently, he had forgotten her golden rule: no one could hide anything from her._

She had tried not to check his computer directly, she really had. But it had been three whole days and he still wouldn’t talk to her! She needed to know the truth!

The answer lay in her friend’s Internet history, and everything became clear when she saw the most researched term from the past few days: Tohru Adachi.

It didn’t explain much about his new obsession, but it helped her remember how it all started. The two of them had been doing their homework at Leblanc while the TV was on, and he’d stopped listening to her during a report on the trial for the Inaba murders from a few years back. He’d looked at the screen intently during the whole thing, and that was when he’d started acting weird.

_But why, though?_

Could it be that he was interested in the case? Did he have a story idea? Was he going to give up on the current one to write it? He couldn’t! She’d been waiting for the end for so long now! He regularly sent her updates, but it wasn’t enough!

Anyway, she had part of the answer now, but she still needed the whole story. And for this, she would have to make Kaoru talk!

.

“I know you’ve been spacing out these days because of the Inaba murders case, and I want to know why.”

Kaoru had always known that Futaba was very direct, but this was something else. Of course he’d suspected something when his friend asked him to come to her room so that she could show him an anime she liked, but he didn’t expect this.

_Also, had he been spacing out? He didn’t realize…_

“It’s nothing. I’m sorry if I worried you,” he replied with the best smile he could muster, making a mental note to pay more attention from now on.

He couldn’t tell her about the issue. There was nothing she could do, and he didn’t want to bother her with it.

“You’ve been researching the topic obsessively for the past few days. It can’t be nothing! If it’s for a new story, you can tell me.”

So that was what she thought? It would make sense, he realized. There was potential for sure…

“It’s not for a story,” he still replied.

“Then what is it?” she asked with a deadly serious expression he’d never seen on her. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Kaoru pursed his lips, feeling a pang of guilt as he realized that his friend was genuinely worried about him.

_He could tell her. He should tell her. Secrets were supposed to be his dad’s thing, not his. He should know better than that!_

“Fine,” he sighed. “But it’s long, and complicated, and potentially very boring, and you have to promise me not to tell anyone about it, okay?”

She nodded. Kaoru took a deep breath and started:

“I knew him. Tohru Adachi. He was a… family friend.”

_More like his dad’s boyfriend, but it wasn’t the point here._

“What?” Futaba asked, surprised.

Clearly, it wasn’t what she expected. He couldn’t blame her.

“From what I remember, he was a good client of my dad, and they ended up being friends. He came home for dinner all the time. They cooked together, he did magic tricks for me, we played… He was really close to us.”

She didn’t say anything, but as expected, now that Kaoru had started, he found that he couldn’t stop. She seemed to be waiting for more anyway.

“He disappeared one day. We had no idea what happened. I tried to call him myself once, but he’d changed his phone number.” He chuckled sadly. “I was heartbroken.”

“And then he reappeared on TV?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “He was nothing like I remembered. The man on TV that day was all blank face, bitter looks, venomous words… I didn’t want to believe it at first.”

They stayed silent for a while. It was rare for Futaba to be this serious. Kaoru didn’t know if he liked it. It made him want to talk more and more until all the words and all the questions that had been stuck in his mind for all these years were finally out.

“He was always so nice, you know. You remember what I said about people clicking or not? Well, he did. He barged into the shop one day with a stupid joke, and I knew from that moment that I wanted to be his friend.”

_Which of the Adachis was a lie though? Was even one of them a lie? Were they both lies?_

“I just don’t understand. Dad and I never talk about it. I’ve tried to bring up the subject, but he’s still acting like Adachi never existed. And I have all these questions, I just can’t help it! Every time I see him on TV, it’s the same. ‘Is that really the same man?’ ‘What happened to him?’ ‘How did he become like this?’ ‘How much of the Adachi I knew was a lie?’ It’s killing me! And the worst part is, I still don’t have any answers!”

He hadn’t realized that he’d almost yelled the last part.

_He was so angry… The pain had dulled over the years, but the frustration was only growing stronger with time._

Futaba was staring at him with a pained expression. Then, she started thinking, and Kaoru could almost see the little gears turning in her brain. She only looked like this when she was starting to have an idea and needed to work out the details.

“Would it help if you could talk to him?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe? It’s not like I can see him in jail.”

He had fantasized about it more than once. Being able to face him and finally tell him how he felt. But it wasn’t possible, and more importantly, he didn’t know if he really wanted to—

“I can do it. I can smuggle you in. I need to check out how it works, but I can make you pass for a family member or something.”

Futaba was still calm when she said this, and deadly serious. Kaoru smiled. He’d never been happier to have her as a friend.

“Thank you,” he said. “But I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

She shrugged.

“Fine. My offer still stands though, if you ever change your mind.”

He nodded. Just knowing that she was here for him was enough for now.

_Listening to him… And all his crazy theories…_

He bit his lip.

“Can I talk about it some more? Because I have plenty of theories and I’d like to have your opinion on them. I know half of them are crazy, but I’ve only had myself to judge on that, so I don’t know what’s realistic and what’s not anymore…”

Futaba grinned.

“Sure, go on!”

She had no idea what she was in for. But Kaoru would stop if he noticed that she was bored, he told himself. Still, he really hoped that she wouldn’t be, because Theory #48 was great and he’d love to have her opinion on that one!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week for a new chapter: True Facts About the Iwai


	8. True Facts About the Iwai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we will learn true facts about the Iwai...
> 
> Basically, Futaba meets him. It goes well... probably.
> 
> Enjoy!

Futaba didn’t know why Kaoru was making such a fuss about her meeting his dad. Ryuji had told her that he looked scary, and Ren that he was a good man, even though he didn’t seem like it at first. In any case, it wasn’t like she needed reassurance. After all, if Kaoru (and her self-proclaimed big brother) liked him, there was no reason for it to go wrong.

What she hated, however, was that Kaoru had managed to make her promise not to look up stuff on him beforehand. She’d been ready to do a complete background check when he asked for that, but his arguments were quite compelling.

 _“You should keep the surprise,”_ he’d said. Futaba suspected that it wasn’t the real reason, but since it was a valid point and it seemed very important to him, she didn’t argue.

_It was frustrating, though. Doing background checks on people she would have to deal with was like a second nature to her now. Did he really think that she’d come to high school without doing research on every teacher, classmate, and school employee?_

In the end, the only thing she could do was learn more about airsoft. It wasn’t much, but she had memorized the complete catalog of the main manufacturers, and learned about the different models and types of pellets. Kaoru said that it wouldn’t be useful, but she wasn’t going to listen to him after he’d memorized the names of dozen of coffee beans and their characteristics before meeting Sojiro.

“Why are we going to his shop again?” she asked as they arrived in Shibuya.

“Because he usually works late, and I think it’s better if you meet him in his natural habitat,” Kaoru replied, sounding like he was talking about a wild animal.

“Should I have brought raw meet to act as a decoy?” she grinned.

“Candies would work much better. Cherry flavored, ideally. And make sure not to show him that you’re scared. He can smell fear.”

There was that playful glint in his eyes; the only sign that he was actually joking.

“I was hoping you’d say something like ‘he’s more afraid of you than you are of him’…”

“No, but the Iwai doesn’t like to be startled. And personal questions. He hates those.”

“Such a mysterious and majestic creature…”

They turned down a side street and reached their destination.

“We have reached the Iwai’s den. The place is usually calm at this hour, but we might encounter a wild regular,” Kaoru whispered dramatically.

“A specialist on the Iwai once told me to bring an incomplete deck of cards or a plastic frame to appease him, so I have brought a broken motherboard,” Futaba commented.

“This is also a very useful decoy. I see you have been well informed,” her friend nodded.

.

Mune glanced at the shop’s clock, wondering when Kaoru was going to come. His kid had reminded him several times for the past two days that he was going to bring his new friend after school, as if it was some important meeting.

To be honest, he was curious to see what she was like. Kaoru had been very clear that she was just his friend, but Mune hadn’t seen him this excited over someone since that damn cop… 

_He just hoped that it would turn out well this time. But since the girl was one of Ren’s friends, she couldn’t be bad, he guessed._

The shop was empty at this hour, and Mune was starting to grow bored. Then, he heard people talking in front of the shop, and the door soon opened to Kaoru and a tiny girl with huge glasses and long orange hair. The retailer put down his magazine and straightened up a bit as he welcomed them. He never really knew how to deal with his kid’s friends…

The girl hid behind his son as soon as she saw him, and Kaoru stepped aside to introduce her.

“Dad, this is Futaba. She’s adopted.”

“Hey!” she exclaimed loudly, turning to Kaoru who was looking at her with a smug smile.

Mune stifled a laugh. His kid had told him about how she’d introduced him to her friends when they met, and he’d obviously been waiting for a chance to get back at her ever since.

“She’s also like Ren’s little sister,” Kaoru added for him while Futaba hid behind him again.

“Nice to meet you,” she muttered.

“Likewise,” Mune replied with a nod, wondering what he was supposed to do to put her at ease.

_He always had this effect on the kids Kaoru brought here._

“Futaba, this is my dad,” his kid continued. “He can smell fear, remember?”

Mune choked.

_Where did that even come from?! No wonder they were all afraid of him if he told them stuff like that!_

Surprisingly, it seemed to have a positive effect on the girl.

“Right!” she exclaimed, straightening up a little.

She then took out something from her bag and slowly walked to the counter to put the item on it.

“Please accept this broken motherboard, Oh Mighty Iwai,” she chanted as she stepped back.

Meanwhile, Kaoru was obviously having the time of his life.

“Uh… Thanks,” he said with a perplexed look. “Kaoru, what did you tell her?” he asked, turning to his son with a frown.

Once the boy was done snickering silently, he replied:

“I’m not the one who told her about that.”

Then, he finally started taking his role seriously and tried to find a common ground between them to ease the atmosphere. It didn't seem easy for him, and Mune assumed that it was the reason why he'd avoided it for so long. It was just like him to do that…

It still worked, eventually, and Futaba sprang from her hiding spot when they started talking about their brief time at the robotics club, and why it was unfair that they didn’t let Kaoru and her complete their amazing flame-throwing robodog. Mune failed to follow her sometimes, but thankfully, Kaoru always made sure to clarify things. All in all, it ended up a lot better than most of his first encounters with his kid’s friends.

_… Even though he was pretty sure that not allowing a flame-thrower on the school’s ground or in general was the right thing to do._

Mune didn’t know why, but despite all the weirdness, recklessness, and cryptic references that Kaoru had warned him of, he had a good feeling about this one.

.

Later that day, as he was walking his friend to the train station while his dad closed the shop, Kaoru couldn't help but ask:

“So, how do you think it went?”

“It was great! And the broken motherboard clearly helped. I'll have to thank Ren for that!” she replied.

Kaoru chuckled. He could tell that his father had been a bit overwhelmed from time to time, but all in all, he also thought that it went well.

_He’d been worried all day that his dad wouldn’t like her because she was too much sometimes and never noticed—not to mention the negative first impression he got when they got kicked out of a few clubs—but it didn't seem to bother him as much as he'd feared._

“What do you think?” Futaba then asked, and Kaoru could tell that she was a bit concerned.

“I think you did great. Most of my friends still cower in fear whenever he's around, you know…” he replied with a smile.

“Really? So does it mean that I have tamed the great Iwai?”

He chuckled.

“I wouldn't go that far. But you're on the right track.”

They reached the station, and instead of saying goodbye, Futaba turned to him and said:

“By the way, I've noticed a security camera in the shop. This is good.”

“Why?” Kaoru asked with a confused look.

“It means you can hack it and keep an eye on him. Like I do with Sojiro.”

“Why would I do that?! Why would _you_ do that?!”

“I need to make sure he takes his work seriously. He doesn't have many clients and he's not really making an effort, you know.”

“So this is your way of looking out for him,” he translated.

“Yep! He's been looking after me for all this time, so it's important that I do my part to help,” she replied with a nod.

When she put it like this, it almost sounded like a good thing. It was exactly how Kaoru felt, most of the time.

_It was still spying and technically illegal, though…_

“I don't think I need to do that,” he declared.

“But your dad doesn't seem very serious either. And Ren says he's awful at customer service.”

“He's not wrong about that,” Kaoru said thoughtfully as he remembered the few times he'd witnessed his father deal with customers.

_Even Adachi wasn't treated better than the others, from what he'd seen._

“That's it then! I'll show you everything you need to know. You can start with hacking the cameras, then we can put bugs, and I think a tracking device might be too much but we never know,” Futaba nodded firmly.

Kaoru sighed. He didn't want to do this, but at the same time, she seemed determined to teach him no matter what. Plus, learning how to do it meant spending time with her, which was always a good thing. It might even give him ideas for a story…

“Sure, show me when you have time,” he nodded.

There was a point in his life when the mere idea of breaking the law made him shiver. When did he become like this? And how much was Futaba to blame for it?

His friend gave him some more advice on how to spy on his dad, and Kaoru wondered how much his father would disapprove of her if he knew what she was planning to make him do.

_It wasn't much worse than the porn she regularly put in his files, though…_

_._

**BONUS**

Something Kaoru loved about Futaba was her ability to constantly surprise him. There were both good and bad surprises, of course, but nothing could have prepared him for the message he got later that night.

“Kaoru, how mad would you be if I started shipping Tanaka with your dad? :/”

_Wait, what?_

“Wait what?” he wrote back.

“I’m sorry! I started thinking, your dad sells stuff and Tanaka sells stuff, and what if Tanaka started being interested in your dad’s business and sell his stuff, and then it just made perfect sense!”

Kaoru failed to see how, but he wasn’t ready to ask so he just wrote:

“Futaba, you need to stop. Now. Leave him out of this.”

“Too late, I’m writing an essay on why they’re made for each other! It’s 3k words already and I’m just starting part 2!”

Now, Kaoru was starting to be a bit curious…

_But it was his dad they were talking about! There was nothing his father hated more than attention, and he was going to be involved against his will in a crazy community full of weird Tanaka fans!_

“What are you even going to do with it?”

“It’s so good! I have to post it! I’ve tested the waters already and everyone wants to see it now!”

_This was bad…_

“Futaba what did you tell them?!” Kaoru asked, praying that his friend didn’t make it too specific.

“Just that Tanaka and a middle-aged shady retailer who is secretly a good guy would make a great couple”

He let out a sigh of relief. This was fine.

_But it didn’t make the whole thing more okay!_

“There’s still no way I’m letting you do this!”

“But Kaoru, you always encourage me to express my creativity!”

“Not like this! This is my dad we’re talking about here! I can’t let you bring people’s attention to him!”

“What if I make it very non-specific?”

Kaoru sighed. Sometimes, he hated his tendency to compromise…

“Fine but I need to read it before you post it, and I get the final word on what is fine and what isn’t”

_He really didn’t want to do this, but it was the best he could think of._

“This is like censorship!” Futaba protested.

She wasn’t technically wrong, but he had to draw the line somewhere.

“I guess so, but this is my final word”

He paused for a second and added:

“You protect your dad by spying on him, and I will protect mine by making sure you don’t let people online recognize him. And if someone asks about it or guesses, you have to promise you won’t say anything”

“Fine… I’ll send it to you when I’m done,” she finally replied.

Kaoru let himself relax in his chair with a sigh. Apparently, this was his life now…

_Did it count as helping when he was the one who brought it on his dad in the first place?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week for another chapter: Interview With a Murderer* (the one where Adachi appears, not figuratively this time!)


	9. Interview With a Murderer*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized a few days ago that I mixed up two chapters, so yep, you get an unexpected Adachi chapter!
> 
> Today, Kaoru goes to prison.
> 
> Enjoy!

Kaoru wasn’t sure why he was here today. However, as he was on his way to the prison’s visiting room, he figured that it was too late to ask now.

He still had no idea how Futaba had made this possible. After all, he knew for sure that every good prison was offline. Still, whatever her plan was had worked somehow, and he was now officially known as Adachi’s nephew. And he was twenty, obviously. His friend had refused to tell him anything about how she’d done it.

Kaoru didn’t know what his “uncle” was told, but he had still accepted to see him. According to Futaba, it was the only thing she didn’t have any control over, and he'd worried about it until the last second, wondering what he'd do if Adachi refused to meet him and revealed that he didn't really have a nephew.

He was sitting on the other side of the glass when Kaoru stepped into the room. Despite the prison clothes, he looked just like the “magic detective” he used to know. He was still lanky, had the same big black eyes, and although it was a big longer, his hair was still a complete mess.

Kaoru only started noticing the differences when he walked closer and sat at the booth. Adachi was skinnier and he looked pretty worn out, but the worst, what shocked Kaoru more than anything, were his empty eyes and blank expression. He looked perfectly unconcerned by the situation. Bored, even. Kaoru had seen this face several times on TV, of course, but seeing it in person really hurt.

_His friend Tohru-san was dead. Maybe he’d never existed._

 

Tohru took the phone, and his unknown visitor did the same. “His nephew”… What a joke. He’d always been an only child and had stopped talking to his family years ago anyway, before he even went to Inaba and then to prison.

_They had nothing to say to each other, so why bother?_

“Hi, kid,” he said with the most dispassionate voice and hollow enthusiasm possible.

He knew stuff like that made people uncomfortable, and it was exactly what he was aiming for.

Who was this kid and what was he even doing here? Tohru had accepted to see him mostly because he was bored and thought it might be entertaining, but he was also pretty curious to see what this brat wanted and how he'd managed to come here.

_There was something familiar about him…_

“Hello, Adachi-san,” the boy replied.

_Could he be some sort of rich brat looking for a thrill?_

The kid seemed to hesitate for a moment.

“I suppose you don’t recognize me,” he said.

“Should I?” Tohru replied, raising an uninterested eyebrow.

The stranger pursed his lips.

“I suppose not,” he said bitterly.

He sighed and announced:

“I’m here because I need some answers.”

“Did I ask?” Tohru snapped back.

It didn’t seem to faze the brat much.

“Look, kid, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care what you want. I’m not here to babysit brats like you or answer your questions. All you need to know is that I’ve killed people and you better work hard if you don’t want to end up like me, okay? Now, either you have something interesting to tell me, or you can just fuck off,” Tohru declared with a menacing tone and a seething look.

“You used to work harder than anyone… Unless that was a lie too,” the kid said pensively.

Apparently Tohru's little monologue had left him perfectly unimpressed. The brat had some guts, he had to give him that. And there was something about his last remark…

_Could it be that he knew the boy, after all? He was so young, he must have been a little kid back then…_

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I thought you didn’t care,” the now vaguely familiar visitor said blankly.

Tohru sent him a death glare, and a cocky smile appeared on the brat’s lips.

_He knew this smile…_

“Hey, a coin!” the kid said, picking up a fifty yen coin from the corner of the booth that Tohru knew wasn’t there before.

It was probably hidden in his sleeve, but even though the trick was simple, the technique was pretty good.

_It brought back memories of a hot day in a tiny shop. There was someone with the same earnest eyes and tame black hair, back then…_

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t here earlier. I wonder if it’s a disappearing coin,” the boy said thoughtfully, and everything became clear in Tohru’s mind.

_How could he have not recognized him immediately?_

“Kaoru-kun,” he whispered.

“That’s right! Good job, Ace Detective Adachi!” he grinned.

It was different from what Tohru remembered; somewhere between little Kaoru’s bright smiles and his father’s cocky ones.

_It had always amazed him, how Kaoru sometimes looked like a tiny Mune in some of his expressions, even though they weren’t related by blood._

_“What are you doing here?”_ he wanted to ask.

“Go away,” he said instead, because the last thing he needed right now was an old memory from a happier past, especially one that reminded him how much the world was changing, with or without him.

_Especially if this memory called him “Adachi-san” again…_

“No,” Kaoru replied calmly.

The guts were another thing he shared with his father now, apparently. And the attitude.

“I can call the guards and tell them you’re not really my nephew.”

“I have questions,” the kid announced, ignoring the remark.

_“You won’t do this,”_ his whole attitude said, and as much as Tohru hated to admit it, he was right.

“Why should I answer?”

“You don’t have to. But now that I’m here, it would be stupid not to try.”

_What kind of questions could he have anyway? How much would he hate Tohru, if he knew the truth? Did he hate him already? Why did he even care about that?_

Tohru gave up and leaned back in his chair.

“Okay, kid, shoot,” he declared.

“Why did you leave?”

_It wasn’t the sort of question he expected. It made sense, though._

“Because I was transferred,” he replied calmly.

“But why didn’t you tell us?”

_Of course, he’d ask._

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

“You were part of our family. Of course it mattered,” Kaoru pointed out.

“I…” Tohru started before realizing that he had no idea where to go with this sentence. “Why does it matter now?” he asked instead.

“You didn’t say anything. You even changed your phone number. Why were you so determined to cut all ties with us?” Kaoru continued mercilessly.

_It felt like a nightmare… Tohru had nightmares like that, sometimes. But everything seemed too real, and Kaoru was still a kid in those, so it couldn’t be one. Dammit._

“It made it easier to leave,” Tohru replied despite himself. “It hurt too much to say goodbye.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“I didn’t want you to see me as a failure like everyone else did.”

“We wouldn’t have. That’s what family is for!” Kaoru protested.

Tohru let out a frustrated sigh. As if he needed regrets now.

“What else do you want to know?” he asked.

“What happened in Inaba?”

_Again, not what he expected._

“You’ll have to be more specific than that, _Kaoru-kun_.”

“The Tohru I knew wasn’t a killer. So what happened to you?”

“The Tohru you knew was a lie,” he replied blankly.

“You've changed,” Kaoru said. “Everyone they interrogated called you a slacker and an idiot, and you’re neither of those. So what happened?”

Tohru sighed again. Ryou had been a lot easier to deal with. Even the people interrogating him were easier to handle. Maybe Kaoru should be the one in charge of the case…

“I lost hope,” he finally admitted, wondering why he was even telling him all this. “I worked hard, and I failed, and it made me lose everything. My job, my family… There was nothing for me in Inaba and I hated it. Then, I got a new power that I thought would help me have my revenge on this shitty world and… Well, you know the rest.”

Kaoru seemed pensive for a while. He looked like he was taking in everything he’d just heard, and carefully putting it in order.

“I see,” he nodded after a moment of silence.

Tohru kept for him the whole part where he thought he’d come back to them once the case was closed and everything was pinned on Namatame. He understood now how stupid he'd been to think that it would work. Kaoru didn’t need to know about it.

“So it wasn’t a lie, then. You just changed and took a wrong turn,” the kid declared with a somewhat relieved look.

“Something like that,” Tohru admitted.

He felt defeated, somehow. Kaoru dominated the exchange completely, and he didn’t want to fight anymore.

“And the TV thing is true as well, right?” the kid asked again.

Tohru raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“You believe in that crap?”

“Yes. I have proof that some paranormal stuff is true. I don’t see why the TV thing wouldn’t be real as well.”

That wasn’t something Tohru expected from someone as rational as Kaoru, but again, the kid was full of surprises

“How did it work?” Kaoru asked, and he found himself replying, surprised by how naturally the kid seemed to accept it.

“When did you learn magic?” Tohru asked then.

“After you left,” Kaoru shrugged. “I missed you,” he added with a sad smile.

This simple honesty wasn’t something he thought the boy would still have. Tohru was wrong a lot, today.

_And he wasn’t sure if his heart was ready for this._

“How’s your dad?” he asked with what he hoped was a casual tone.

“He’s fine. Still working in his shop,” Kaoru replied. “He doesn’t talk about you at all and acts like you never existed, so now I’m here.”

_Classic Mune. It still hurt, though…_

“I’ve found someone, you know,” Tohru couldn’t help but brag. “He’s a stupid man who thinks I can be redeemed or something, can you believe it? His job is to put small fry in prison, and he’s trying his best to get _me_ out. And I’m pretty much the worst criminal to ever step foot in his tiny shithole of a town.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Kaoru nodded. “Is he your Sunday visitor?”

 

Adachi's eyes opened wide with surprise. With this face, he looked like the man Kaoru used to know.

“Yeah. How do you know that?” he asked.

Kaoru shrugged. That was why he had to wait for the holidays to come. He couldn’t afford to meet this person and have his cover blown.

“I knew you were together, you know. Dad and you,” he said after a few seconds of silence.

“Well, good for you because I didn’t,” Adachi replied with a bitter look.

Kaoru frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“It was never really official, you know. And he was so scared that you’d find out… It was pretty useless, apparently.”

“It sure sounds like Dad,” Kaoru sighed.

They kept talking for a little while. Tohru-san asked to see a few of the tricks he’d learned and gave him tips on how to improve them. It was weird, but also oddly comforting.

_It could have been his life, if the man had learned how to reach out back then._

Then, the visit was over, too soon for Kaoru’s taste.

“Don’t come back,” Tohru-san said.

“We’ll see,” he replied.

He had his answers now, he realized. There was no reason for him to come back, and he felt like it would only hurt the both of them more if he did.

He walked out of the visiting room and sighed. It was probably useless to take more risks, right? And more importantly…

… _how would his dad react if he knew about this?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week for Like a Dragon, for real this time!


	10. Like a Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today, Sojiro still doesn't trust Kaoru.

Sojiro couldn’t help it: he didn’t trust Futaba’s new friend. It was quite surprising given how fast he had accepted Ren’s little group—not to mention that he never thought anything of Ren himself when he had started hanging out with his daughter; just that he was like a big brother to her, and that it was good that she had people she could rely on.

However, he just couldn’t accept Kaoru. Not when Futaba told him how accepting he was; not when she mentioned that he was like another “key item” to her, making her more confident around others and always encouraging her to be more open; not when she said how easy he made things when he translated her thoughts to her classmates so they could get her, or when he made her sound really cool instead of weird. Or maybe it was precisely because of all these things, he didn’t know.

Sojiro had tried to make an effort, he really had! Futaba had insisted on it a lot, actually. Plus, all of her friends seemed to like the kid, including Ren. But there was always something about Kaoru that kept Sojiro on his toes, and he didn’t know what it was.

_…until now, that was._

Futaba came home late again. She spent most of her time after school at her new friend’s place now, and most of the evening. The only exceptions were when they were trying out new clubs, or when Kaoru had to go to cram school, in which case she’d just hang out at home a little and then leave. She assured him that they did their homework together, but she still came home late every day, visibly exhausted and worst of all, talking like a delinquent of some sort.

What was that kid doing to her? Sojiro had assumed that they were secretly dating at first, although he didn’t understand why they’d hide it from him, but it didn’t explain the change in Futaba’s speech pattern.

As he tried to find out where it could come from, a horrible idea came to his mind.

_Did they join a gang?!_

Kaoru looked like a nice and earnest kid, but the facts were here: he had a strange influence on Futaba, and his daughter had changed a lot lately because of him.

_Weren’t the Phantom Thieves enough trouble? Did she miss the thrill? What should Sojiro do about it? She had ended up trusting him about the Phantom Thieves, so she would tell him about this, right?_

“Yo, Soji-bro, I’m home!” Futaba announced from the entrance.

“It’s late, where have you been?” he asked sternly.

“At Kaoru’s place,” she shrugged.

She never gave more explanation than this. And it wasn’t like Sojiro ever had time to ask.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Yeah. T’was his turn to make dinner. We made tofu curry. We gotta work on that recipe!” she explained with a smile, her tiredness fading gradually as she started talking about it.

“I see,” Sojiro said, wondering if maybe he should ask for details this time.

“Anyway, I’m going to my room. See ya!” Futaba said, walking toward the stairs already.

It seemed that they wouldn’t talk about it today either.

_But really, what was Kaoru doing to her? Doing homework and cooking curry didn’t take that long!_

“Futaba, wait!” he called her.

This might be bad, and as her guardian, he had to talk to her about these things.

.

“Kaoru, you’re never going to believe me! Sojiro thought I was in a gang!” Futaba texted just before Kaoru went to bed.

His first reaction was a confused frown. Then, he started putting the pieces together and realized that probably, from the man’s point of view, it sort of made sense.

If Futaba hadn’t told him anything, that was.

“Wait, you didn’t tell him what we were doing?” he wrote.

“I didn’t think I’d have to,” she replied.

Kaoru shouldn’t have been surprised by that. Futaba always assumed that everything she did was obvious, and she usually didn’t talk about it unless asked. Still, it was sad that Sakura-san had to worry about her when all they had been doing for the past few weeks was perfectly harmless.

_It had all started when Kaoru had decided that, since Futaba had told him the truth about her being an ex-Phantom Thief and she was going to make that background check on his dad sooner or later anyway, maybe he should tell her about his past. It had taken a bit of work to make his father agree on it without telling him about his friend’s tendency to hack her way through people’s private files, but he still ended up telling Kaoru that he trusted his judgment._

“How did he take it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. He didn’t seem angry, but not relieved either.”

“I see…” Kaoru wrote, wondering how the man saw him now.

It could barely be worse than his current image, to be honest. For some reason, Sakura-san was perfectly immune to his ‘earnest kid’ charm that worked wonders on other parents.

“Anyway, I’m coming tomorrow. We’re almost done!” Futaba texted.

“We still have a few left, though… But I’m proud of us, we did great!”

Kaoru wasn’t sure if he should really feel proud about it, but he still sort of did.

_Futaba had seemed to take the news very well. The hardest part for Kaoru had been to find the right time to tell her. And then, of course, she had an idea…_

“Yes! Then we’ll be one step closer to understanding your dad!”

“I’m still not convinced by that, you know…”

“He said himself it was good representation! And Kiryu is basically him, you can’t tell me otherwise! It has to work!”

Kaoru still wasn’t sure that playing the entire Yakuza series together would really help them understand his dad, but he had to admit that it was a lot of fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week for... The Talk*


	11. The Talk*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwai and Kaoru finally talk about Adachi. T'was about time!

As he was silently walking home with his father, Kaoru made a mental note to kill Futaba later.

She had taken advantage of a free afternoon to work on making the computer system in his dad’s shop hacker-proof, like she’d promised a while ago, and everything had been going great until his father complimented her on her skills, once she was done.

“Oh, it was nothing,” she’d replied. “I helped a friend infiltrate a prison recently, and _that_ was a real challenge. Did you know they were offline?”

There was a pause. Apparently, Futaba didn’t understand the signs for ‘shut up!’ Kaoru had been frantically making behind his father’s back the whole time.

“Oh, who was it?” he asked with a suspicious look.

“Uh…” she brilliantly started. “Just… a friend, you know?”

His father crossed his arms with a stern frown, and only then did Futaba seem to understand that she’d made a mistake. Kaoru had never told her how suspicious his father had been when he went to visit Adachi, but she wasn’t supposed to casually mention it!

Since she couldn’t be trusted, Kaoru decided to take matters into his own hands.

“It was me. There was someone I needed to talk to,” he explained.

_There had been enough lies between them over the past few years. This conversation was long overdue anyway._

His dad turned to him, still frowning, and it took most of Kaoru’s willpower to withstand his gaze. He still didn’t flinch, and his father ended up telling Futaba that she should go home. She looked at Kaoru, silently asking him what was going on, and he nodded to tell her that it would be fine, but she should leave for now.

Father and son didn’t talk after she left. His dad had closed the shop without a word, and they went home in silence. They were both very good at holding in their feelings until they could lash out, and now was a perfect example of that. It didn’t stop Kaoru from feeling like he was going to explode any second, but he knew that if he started talking now, they would just end up causing a scene. Still, the walk home had never felt so long.

By the time they reached their building, Kaoru’s guts had started making complicated knots that would make a seasoned seaman proud. Actually, the way his pulse was resonating in his ears almost sounded like a low clap.

“What was that all about?” his father asked as soon as he had closed the door of their flat.

“I told you. I needed to see someone,” Kaoru replied as calmly as he could.

“Who?”

He had hoped that his dad would be the one to break the silence on Adachi, but apparently, it wasn’t going to happen this time either.

“Who do you think?” he still replied, giving him one last chance. “How many people do you think I’d want to visit in prison?”

“Do you have any idea how many laws you were breaking by doing that? Futaba and you could end up in juvenile detention for it and trust me, it’s no fun,” he spat.

“That’s not the question here!” Kaoru exploded. “I wouldn’t have had to do it if you’d just talked to me! Even now, you’re still avoiding the subject! How stubborn can you be?!”

_He’d never really yelled at anyone like that before, let alone his dad_ , the part of him that was still calm realized.

“There’s nothing to say about it! What would you want to know so bad that you’d break the law with the help of your hacker friend?!”

_How long had it been since his father raised his voice because of him?_ The calm part of Kaoru’s mind wondered again.

“Why can’t you even say his name, dammit?!”

_That was clearly Ryuji’s bad influence here. Kaoru never swore._

“Because there’s nothing to say! He was here, and then he left and killed people. There was nothing to do except move on, and that’s what I did. And I thought you’d done the same. Also, mind your language.”

“There’s a difference between moving on and avoiding the subject completely! That’s the opposite of moving on! I had questions, Dad! It’s been killing me for years! Can you really tell me that you don’t feel anything whenever Tohru-san appears on TV?”

_That name… Kaoru had stopped using it until recently. Funny how easily it came back._

“Of course I had questions too, but what good would it do to find the answers? He’s betrayed us! He’s lied to us for years! He’s as good as dead to me.”

“But _I_ was here! You knew how much I cared about him! Did you really think I’d just forget if you started acting like he’d never existed? You could do that with my parents because I never knew them, but Tohru-san was a part of my life too!”

_If his dad wasn’t going to use his name, then Kaoru would._

He expected his father to make a clever reply, or maybe to keep yelling at him. He never took it well when Kaoru showed any sign of being disrespectful, after all… But instead, he just sighed and said:

“Fine. I’m sorry I didn’t take your feelings into account. You just never looked like you wanted to talk about it, so I thought it was fine.”

“You’re forgetting the death glares I got every time I tried to mention him,” Kaoru remarked wryly. He sighed. “I thought you’d talk when you were ready, but you never did.”

“Oh, so you were taking care of your old man, huh?” his father sneered.

“I knew you were together,” Kaoru announced, ignoring the last comment. “I don’t know why you never saw fit to tell me, but according to Tohru-san, the decision came from you.”

“What did he tell you?”

“I didn’t need anyone to tell me, Dad. It was just obvious! Why did you try to hide it?”

“I didn’t want to make things more complicated than they were.”

“There was _nothing_ complicated about it! You know what makes things more complicated? Not talking about them! Because then I can let my imagination run wild, and you _know_ how wild it can be! Remember when you didn’t tell me about the whole yakuza thing and I thought for _months_ that it was my fault and you resented me for being a burden? Well, it’s the same here!”

“You never told me you felt this way,” his father muttered.

“Of course I didn’t! You didn’t even bother telling me what was wrong, so why would you have cared about my feelings?”

_This conversation was starting to go down a dangerous path…_

“Of course I care about them! I was trying to protect you!”

“That’s not how you protect people! I thought you’d learned that, and yet you still wouldn’t say anything about Tohru-san last time I tried to bring him up!”

Kaoru had always known, deep down, that Adachi was like a symbol of his family’s culture of silence. However, he’d never have imagined that talking about him would suddenly unravel all those years of resentment. He thought that this chapter of his life was over after the whole confrontation the year before, but apparently, there were still a lot of things they needed to talk about…

“So, what did you learn from that guy in the end?” his father asked after a moment of awkward silence.

“What I had to, I guess,” Kaoru replied. “What happened to him was his own fault, but at least it wasn’t all a lie, so there’s that.”

“I see…”

The air around them felt weird, now that they were both calmer. They were still standing in the entrance, and neither of them had even taken off their shoes.

“Look, you’re right,” his father finally said. “I shouldn’t have tried to sweep him under the rug. I really thought it was for the best, and then it had been years, so… You know I don’t like to bring back things from the past. But I’ll try to do better from now on. Still, you shouldn’t have done that.”

“I forgive you. And I’m sorry I went to visit him without trying to tell you first. You’re right; it was childish and dangerous. And I shouldn’t have involved Futaba in all of this.”

His dad nodded silently, but the atmosphere somehow didn’t feel any less awkward. It was even worse now, and it made Kaoru want to run away from here and not come back.

“Wanna go eat somewhere?” his father offered.

Kaoru accepted eagerly, glad to see that he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stay here now. Still, while they walked to a small restaurant nearby, he felt a lot lighter than before.

“By the way, you’re still grounded,” his dad announced.

“Figures,” Kaoru sighed.

“I’m confiscating your Yakuza games until further notice.”

“How long is that?”

“When I’ve decided you’ve been punished enough.”

“That’s arbitrary. I’m fine with the punishment, but it’s not fair not to give me a definite period of time,” he objected.

“It’s very mild given the offense,” his father reminded him. “And you don’t get to object to your punishment.”

“Criminals can do that.”

His father sighed.

“I’ll think about it and tell you tomorrow. But you’re in for at least a few months,” he announced.

“Futaba won’t like it…”

“Good. She should be grounded too.”

Now, Kaoru’s mission would be to make sure she abided by the rules of the punishment. It would probably be hard, but he’d manage, he decided.

When they finally went back to their flat after dinner, the place felt a lot better than before. It was home again, and they started doing their own thing as if nothing had happened. Kaoru felt more relieved than he had in months, as if nothing could trouble him anymore.

_He’d have to thank Futaba for this later._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week for the last chapter: I Knew You Were Trouble*


	12. I Knew You Were Trouble*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand here we are: the last chapter of FSD! I could probably expand and add a few stories, but I feel like I'm mostly done with it.
> 
> Today, Iwai looks back on his relationship with Adachi.
> 
> Enjoy!

Mune had known this from the start: Adachi was trouble. Of course, he hadn’t predicted what kind of trouble the damn cop would be, but nothing would have happened if he’d kept the guy out of his shop and out of his life, like he’d been planning to.

Instead, all he had was this weird and unofficial relationship that neither of them really saw fit to define; and even though Mune thought he’d made it clear that he saw him as a part of his family, it didn’t stop the fuzz from leaving without a word.

_Mune knew something was wrong, back then, but what could he have done if the moron refused to tell him anything?_

If he was honest with himself, he’d felt heartbroken when Adachi left. He’d always figured that it was something only fictional women experienced, but after weeks of denial, he finally had to admit that the pain in his chest every time he thought about how the damn cop had ghosted him was the real deal. Mune wasn’t the kind of person to stay in bed and cry for days, but even though he’d kept living his life normally, he still felt awful. Then, he decided to bury these now useless feelings until he forgot about their existence.

Last time he’d checked, they had turned as sour as vinegar, so he’d thrown them away until nothing was left but some vague reek of resentment whenever he heard from the guy in some way or another. He wondered sometimes how it could have happened; how the sly little rat could have sneaked into his life like that, and why Mune had ended up letting him.

According to Kaoru, everything wasn’t a lie and Adachi had just changed. Mune didn’t know how true these words were, but that wasn’t the problem. There was one thing the cop had lied about that he couldn’t mention to his son: the reason why he was so interested in Untouchable in the first place.

Mune should have expected that the guy wanted a proper gun, but since he was a cop and had access to the real deal already, it didn’t cross his mind that he’d try to create his own.

_Especially since he’d stopped being wary of the fuzz long before he gave him access to his special menu…_

It was all over the news, back when the Inaba murder case was solved and Adachi’s face was everywhere, so different from what Mune remembered that it had taken him a few minutes to accept that it was really him. “A modified gun has been found in the culprit’s belongings. The police are currently trying to find its origin,” the reporters would say over and over again.

Mune had spent the weeks that followed coming up with various escape plans for Kaoru and him if things turned sour, and he was convinced that every cop he met was after him. He only started calming down after months, when it became obvious that Adachi didn’t sell him out and that his precautions to make his special guns impossible to trace had worked.

Still, he couldn’t believe that the damn cop had been trying to make a real gun all this time! In a way, it was what Mune was the most upset about. If he was found out, they would have all been in trouble for this, including Kaoru! Of course, the same could be said about the items from his special menu, but they weren’t technically illegal. Or at least, they weren’t as blatantly illegal as owning a gun without permit in a country as strictly regulated as Japan.

_What the hell was that guy thinking about?!_

Mune’s only comfort came from the fact that his gun wasn’t the murder weapon. It made it even more stupid that the moron would keep it in the first place, but it was still a relief. Mune took great pride in his creations, and he would have hated for them to be used to kill innocent people. Plus, it also meant that the police had been less eager to find out where the culprit got it.

Still, this whole ordeal became a huge source of stress for him, and it only confirmed that he should stay away from cops from now on. And from people in general.

_The most frustrating thing was that he couldn’t yell at the stupid fuzz for being such an idiot…_

In a way, he understood why Kaoru had taken all those risks to go see him. Mune needed his own closure as well. However, if the events from the year before had taught him anything, it was that the past was in the past, and it should stay there.

For now, he had a present to focus on, and a future that involved making sure that Kaoru could live comfortably when he’d go to college.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I leave you, I wanted to thank you all for reading this story! Whether you hopped in this series with FSD or started all the way back to Special Menu, I hope you've enjoyed the ride!
> 
> And as always, a special thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments, I live for them! (well... especially the comments, not gonna lie)
> 
> One last thing: I'm currently working on the last story I've written for this fandom. It's called In Bloom, and it's an AU where Adachi and Iwai met back when Adachi was still in high school and Iwai was in the yakuza. It's mostly... Adachi being a stalker and lots of banter, I guess?  
> I'll post the first chapter next week or the week after. See you then, hopefully!


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